"One morning in January, Crystal Carrero went to her usual grocery store in Crown Heights. But when she went to pay, the cashier told her there was no money on her Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card. "It was impossible," she remembered saying, because she hadn't used any of the funds, and she had recently checked the balance: $923, her monthly benefits from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps low-income households afford groceries."
"Thousands of New Yorkers have been victims of it in recent years, with no recourse to recover what was lost. The federal government no longer refunds stolen benefits after the legislation that authorized those reimbursements ended in 2024. Despite an uptick in EBT card skimming across the country in recent years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees SNAP regulations, only reimburses physical card thefts, not skimming fraud."
"In six different transactions early in the morning, her SNAP benefits were drained. The money she used to feed her two kids and support her granddaughter was gone. Her EBT card had been "skimmed"-a type of electronic fraud in which card data is stolen. Thousands of New Yorkers have been victims of it in recent years, with no recourse to recover what was lost."
Crystal Carrero had $923 in SNAP benefits drained in six early-morning transactions after her EBT card was skimmed, removing funds meant for her children and granddaughter. Thousands of New Yorkers have experienced similar electronic skimming of EBT cards without recourse after federal reimbursements ended in 2024. The USDA reimburses only physical card thefts and does not cover skimming fraud. In 2023, New Yorkers whose SNAP benefits were stolen through electronic skimming filed a class-action lawsuit against the USDA. A federal judge dismissed the case in August, and Legal Aid Society and Freshfields have appealed to challenge whether older SNAP rules apply to electronic benefit theft.
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